The World Bank's 2024 «Business Ready» report ranks Morocco among 50 economies, highlighting its strong performance in regulatory framework and public services but noting room for improvement in operational efficiency. Morocco scored highest in business location and entry but ranked lower in areas like market competition, taxation, and dispute resolution. In assessing the business environment in various economies, the World Bank has released its 2024 «Business Ready» report. With a new methodology developed by the international financial institution, departing from previous approaches, the report evaluates business climates and ranks the economies of 50 countries, including Morocco. Based on three key pillars, the World Bank divides these economies into five equal groupings, or quintiles, from highest to lowest performers based on their scores within each pillar. Morocco ranks first in the third quintile of the first pillar, Regulatory Framework, which examines the rules, regulations, and procedures businesses must comply with in a given country. Morocco scored 68.92, on a scale from 0 to 100, putting it ahead of countries like Côte d'Ivoire, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and New Zealand. The top performers in this pillar overall are Hungary, Portugal, and Georgia, leading the first quintile. Morocco struggles with taxation and dispute resolution In Pillar II, Public Services, which assesses the quality and availability of essential services like electricity, water, and transport, Morocco ranks in the second quintile, the second-highest performing group. Morocco scored 58.66, placing it above Mexico and Mauritius but behind Peru, Hong Kong, Romania, and Georgia. Bulgaria tops the second quintile, while Estonia leads Pillar II overall. For Pillar III, Operational Efficiency, which evaluates the effectiveness of government institutions and processes, Morocco ranks in the fourth quintile, just above the least-performing group. With a score of 59.66, Morocco is behind Paraguay, Cambodia, and Indonesia, which tops the fourth group, but ahead of Greece, the Philippines, and Peru. Singapore leads this pillar globally. In addition to the pillar performance, the Business Ready 2024 report also presents information on individual topic-level performance. Morocco performed best in the Business Location topic, scoring 77.39, followed by Business Entry at 76.73. The country's third-best performance was in Utility Services with 76.64, followed by International Trade with 75.51. In Financial Services and Labor, Morocco scored 62.66 and 59.10, respectively. Morocco scored lowest in Market Competition, Taxation, Business Insolvency, and Dispute Resolution, with scores of 58.14, 47.69, 46.58, and 43.67, respectively.
